NFL Power Rankings entering Week 3: Are the Vikings the best team in the NFC North?

Even if his words are being twisted, the big problem is the Steelers are trusting a 42-year-old quarterback way too much. The Steelers have 81 passing attempts, which is third in the league, and they’re passing about 65% of the time despite not being in pass-only mode much of the season. The Steelers never trailed by more than four points in Week 1 and the game didn’t get away from them Sunday until a Rodgers fumble was returned for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter. Mike McCarthy has just made a decision to pass it over and over like it’s 2011 with Rodgers. Pittsburgh has one offensive touchdown in eight quarters with that approach.

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22. Carolina Panthers (1-1, LW: 26)

Bryce Young is second in the NFL with 648 passing yards through two games, only 14 yards behind Tyler Shough for the league lead. Young was also tied for first in the NFL through Sunday’s games with six touchdown passes. It has helped to play hapless defenses like the Bears and Falcons, but the production is undeniable. It helps that Jalen Coker was one of five receivers through Sunday’s games with more than 200 yards through two weeks. Young is under contract through the 2027 season, and he’s starting to make a case for the Panthers to give him a lucrative second contract.

21. Indianapolis Colts (0-2, LW: 24)

The question is whether Shane Steichen should have gone for it in overtime. In hindsight, giving the ball to Patrick Mahomes when all he needed was a field goal to win was not the right call. But it wasn’t an easy call. The Colts had a fourth-and-8 and came out hoping to go for it but got a defensive look that was not conducive to them getting the first down. So Steichen called timeout and took the field goal, hoping his defense could get a stop.

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Steichen said he told quarterback Daniel Jones, before the timeout: “If you love it, man, let’s go at it. Let’s go win this thing. But if it’s not the right look … let’s kick the field goal here.”

He’ll be second-guessed for it after the Colts lost a hard-fought game in overtime. Steichen is under a lot of pressure to show progress and keep his job, and an 0-2 start with a questionable coaching decision isn’t an ideal beginning.

20. Green Bay Packers (1-1, LW: 18)

Nothing looks good for the Packers right now, especially on offense. The line is beyond banged up and Green Bay lost right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele to a potentially season-ending injury. Receiver Jayden Reed went down with a back injury on the Packers’ first drive Sunday. The running game is non-existant without Josh Jacobs. MarShawn Lloyd has been a non-factor and got just six carries Sunday before he was essentially benched after a fumble. Jordan Love had just 145 passing yards against a Jets secondary that was historically bad last season and didn’t have Minkah Fitzpatrick. The Packers won in overtime Sunday, coming back from a 17-7 fourth-quarter deficit. If they didn’t rally, the panic would be ramped up even more. The Packers are lucky the hapless Falcons are next on the schedule because they have a lot of issues to work through.

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The Texans’ run game was dreadful Sunday when it had to carry the offense with receiver Nico Collins out. The Texans had a putrid 6.7% success rate on runs against the Bengals. Only one team has a mark under 20% in a game this season, and that was the Raiders at 18.5% in Week 2. It’s stunning that the Texans have not fixed their offensive line issues over multiple offseasons despite it being an obvious liability.

“For us just collectively as a team, the one key to this victory was controlling the front and from an offensive perspective and we did not control their front,” Houston head coach DeMeco Ryans said, via Texans Wire. “We got outplayed up front. We couldn’t run the ball well. That forced us into a lot of passing situations.”

The Texans bounced back from an 0-3 start to make the playoffs last season, but they’re in a big hole after losing two home games to begin this season.

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18. Las Vegas Raiders (2-0, LW: 25)

Klint Kubiak’s offense will get a lot of credit for the Raiders’ 2-0 start. While that side of the ball is playing well, it’s more notable what Vegas’ defense is doing. The Raiders’ defense is first in the NFL in EPA allowed per play, and by a wide margin. Part of that (and part of the reason the Raiders aren’t higher in the rankings yet) is they’ve played a Dolphins team that might be on 0-17 watch and a Chargers team that has looked as bad as anyone through two weeks. If the Raiders keep playing like this on both sides of the ball, they’ll move up fast. And already, it seems like the free-agent and draft additions have made significant improvements on both sides of the ball.

That’s more of what we expected from the Cowboys. Dak Prescott threw four touchdowns, breaking Tony Romo’s franchise record for career TD passes. The offense came alive but the defense is still a question after giving up 389 yards despite Jayden Daniels missing half of the game due to an elbow injury. The Cowboys didn’t have a sack. They have two sacks in two games, and the only player with more than a half-sack is safety Caleb Downs. Things will be fine if the Cowboys’ offense is putting up 37 points like Dallas did Sunday, but it’s hard to win that way in the NFL. It’s easier to attack those issues after a win, and team owner Jerry Jones is optimistic.

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“We’re better than we’ve been in the last two years on defense,” Jones said, according to the team’s site. “And offensively, we saw some really impressive things tonight.”

The Giants had a scare when Jaxson Dart hurt his knee Monday, and while Jameis Winston is one of the better backup quarterbacks in the NFL, he is also capable of throwing his team out of any game with inopportune interceptions. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that initial exams on Dart indicated he has a sprained MCL, which could cause him to miss some time. If he does, the Giants will be much more volatile. Monday night’s loss at the Rams was ugly, as the Giants were outgained 481-182, but losing Dart early affected the whole operation. We shouldn’t forget how good they looked against the Cowboys in Week 1.

The Saints are a 2-point conversion away from being 2-0 with road wins over the Lions and Ravens. Given the issues elsewhere in the NFC South, the Saints look like they’re the best team in the division. They were the best team in the division over the second half of last season too. There was controversy over whether Tyler Shough scored on a fourth-and-goal quarterback sneak that gave the Saints the lead — it was ruled a touchdown on the field though it wasn’t clear Shough broke the plane and was not reversed after a replay review — but the comeback in the fourth quarter on the road against a good Ravens team made it a well-earned win. The next step for New Orleans is not falling behind early and having to make a big comeback.

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The fear over Caleb Williams’ injury has subsided since it seems like a fairly minor hamstring injury, and yes his extremely distressed reaction to a hamstring strain was odd. At least it wasn’t a major injury. What needs to be addressed is how the Bears’ offense was inept just one week after putting up 59 points at Carolina. The Bears scored three points against Minnesota and that was with Williams playing three-and-a-half quarters. It would have been better had it not been for a D’Andre Swift fumble at the 1-yard line and a blocked field goal. The rainy weather was certainly an issue, but it’s not like the Bears won’t be playing more bad weather games. They’re still having trouble getting Luther Burden III, Rome Odunze and Colston Loveland (14 combined catches in two games) involved. One bad game doesn’t mean the Bears are in trouble on offense, but one great game might not make them the highest scoring offense in NFL history either.

“The weather was a major factor in this game,” Bears head coach Ben Johnson said, according to the team’s site. “It was the big story of this game. Both defensive coordinators did a great job making it very challenging for the opposing offense. I thought that was the tale of the tape.”

The Lions have given up 658 passing yards, which is second-most in the NFL, with only the Colts being worse. They are decimated due to injuries, which is why they were working out defensive backs like Jordan Fuller and Jalen Mills on Monday, according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN. Safety Avonte Maddox is the latest to go down; he’ll miss the rest of the season due to a foot injury. Since halftime of the season opener, the Lions have given up 71 points and 804 yards. Facing Josh Allen in Week 2 factors into the defensive problems, but it’s still alarming.

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“Defensively, we knew it was a tall task, but we gave up too much,” Lions head coach Dan Campbell said. “There were some things in there that we have to get cleaned up. You have to play your best ball to have a chance to reduce points against that team and that quarterback, and we did not do that. We had a hand in helping them out there a little bit, and it wasn’t good enough. It’s not good enough.”

The good news is the Lions still have an easy schedule, and there are winnable games coming up against the Jets, Panthers and Cardinals. Detroit needs to win those games to quell some fears, especially about its defense.

12. Denver Broncos (1-1, LW: 15)

The Broncos’ turnaround after six poor quarters to start the season might have been as simple as figuring out how to get Jaylen Waddle and Jonah Coleman involved. Waddle was mostly invisible in Week 1 with just 2 yards, but he had 138 in Week 2. He won’t go off like that every week, but that should be closer to his normal production. Coleman, a rookie, took advantage of injuries to JK Dobbins and RJ Harvey and had 39 yards rushing and 19 yards receiving, and generally looked good. It could become difficult for the Broncos to keep him off the field. The offensive output from Waddle and Coleman, and a much-improved effort from the defense, led to a win over the Jaguars that avoided what would have been a miserable 0-2 start.

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“When the sky was falling, I was like, ‘Look, this is correctable,'” defensive lineman Zach Allen said, via the team’s site.

The Patriots won and they got some downfield passing going, but Drake Maye is still in a slump. He didn’t throw a touchdown Sunday and had only 208 yards. His Week 1 struggles can be excused because the Seahawks’ defense is incredible. The Steelers’ defense isn’t on that level and the Patriots were still underwhelming on offense. The Patriots are still figuring out their receiver rotation without A.J. Brown, but the passing offense needs to do more. Maye is 19th in adjusted EPA per play and 10th in success rate, which isn’t that bad considering half of his season so far was against Seattle, but it’s nowhere near his MVP form of last season.

“You got to be excited and enjoy the win,” Maye said, according to Yahoo Sports’ Jori Epstein. “But at the same time, you realize that playing like this isn’t going to end up with offensively us leading our team to wins.”

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10. Minnesota Vikings (2-0, LW: 17)

Edge rusher Dallas Turner seems to be having a breakout in his third season. He leads the NFL in pressures (20), QB hits (8) and PFF’s pass rush productivity score. With the Bears at the 12-yard line, trailing 9-3, Turner had a sack on the final play of the game to seal the win. Turner was the 17th pick of the 2024 NFL Draft and he is playing up to that draft status.

“DT being our closer, finishing the whole thing,” Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell said after Sunday’s win. “DT just keeps showing up.”

The Eagles needed to stop a 2-point conversion to beat the Commanders and a last-minute drive with a touchdown in the final seconds to beat the Titans. Those are two of the worst teams in the NFL so far. Life is better at 2-0 but it still has been an uneven start for the Eagles. It’s not just an offense learning a new scheme either. The defense is just 22nd in EPA per play allowed and 14th in success rate allowed. The offense is 14th in EPA per play and 27th in success rate. It has been a very mediocre team that made the plays it needed to win two close games. It’s early in the season and 2-0 is obviously fine, but don’t ignore these warning signs.

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There’s nothing wrong with losing on the road to a desperate Broncos team. It’s tough in the altitude early in the season, and that might have played a factor in the Jaguars blowing a 13-3 second-half lead. Between last season and Week 1, the Jaguars have earned the benefit of the doubt that they’re still a very good team despite one loss to a team that went 14-3 last season. One shining light is that receiver Parker Washington has carried over a strong finish from last season. Washington is second in the NFL in target share to only Jaxon Smith-Njigba, according to PFF. Washington is getting 37.5% of the targets despite some good receiver teammates around him. He has turned that into 18 catches for 181 yards through two games. Washington is a rising star.

Rashod Bateman and Mark Andrews both had productive days, but the Ravens missed Zay Flowers in their home loss to the Saints. The Ravens were ahead 17-9 but couldn’t put the game away in the fourth quarter and lost in the final two minutes. Taking a deep shot on third-and-1 in a tie game rather than handing it to Derrick Henry didn’t work and has been criticized. This type of loss has become a flaw for Baltimore. The Ravens have a league-leading 15 losses after they held a double-digit lead since 2018, the team’s site said. That’s disappointing but there are positive signs for the Ravens through two weeks. They just need to get their receiver room healthy and do a much better job closing games.

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“This is a different team [with] different energy,” Andrews said, according to transcripts. “This is not par for the course. We are going to learn from this and continue to be better and capitalize when we need to capitalize.”

Kenneth Walker might have the second-biggest impact of anyone in the NFL through two weeks, behind Josh Allen. In Week 1, Walker set a career best by forcing 14 missed tackles. In Week 2, he forced 15 missed tackles. When the Chiefs needed a game-winning drive in overtime, he was involved in five of their six offensive plays. Included in that was a 22-yard gain on a catch that got the Chiefs into easy field-goal range. For the first time in a while, the Chiefs have balance on offense and that’s helping Patrick Mahomes.

“It’s fun for me, just him running the ball, our offensive line driving off the ball the way that they’re driving off,” Mahomes said. “It’s making defenses have to account for that. I mean, if not, we’re going to run the ball for 200 yards or whatever we did the week before, and so you want to be able to do it all.”

Is Cincinnati’s defense good? It was impressive against Houston. The Bengals paid a big price for defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II, giving up the 10th overall pick of the draft to the Giants for him. It looks like he might be worth it. Lawrence had a fantastic game Sunday, including a huge fourth-down stop on RB David Montgomery. The Bengals completely shut down the Texans’ run game and Lawrence was the biggest element in that.